VARNA - Theology ( a paper from grad school probably in my first year. I have made a few changes so whom I am using as an example is nor recognized)

By Silva Redigonda Varna is a class structure for Hindu society based according to birth. There are over 3000 castes (jati) one is born into and one is expected to marry within one’s own caste. In this paper the caste system will be defined. It is difficult to be unbiased when one believes in equality for all. Yet this resistance and aversion will be examined as well as attractions to this practice and belief system. This will be compared to Catholicism that has a definite hierarchical system. Hindu society is divided into four class systems. The highest class is the Brahmins (seers). They are intellectuals and spiritual leaders. They guard their authority to learn and teach the Vedas (Scriptures). The second group is Kshatriya. This group consists of political rulers, warriors, administrators and protectors. The third group, the Vaishya consists of producers, artisans; farmers. This is the mercantile class, business and commerce and trade. The fourth group is the Shudra. This can be characterized as followers or servants. They are people of service and manual labour. This class is excluded from reading sacred text. The World Religions by Smith refers to this class as having a relatively short attention span, yet capable of working well under supervision, proving to be hard workers and loyal. Smith continues that these people are better off and happier working for others. There is also a fifth class for this paper, which is so low on the tandem pole that it is referred to as Out-class - the Avarna. The Out-castes are not permitted to participate in any formal Hindu religious activities and are destined to have what is indicated as the lowest form of employment such as cremation, executioners, leather workers, hunters and fishermen. Foreigners also belong in this group as do families who become outcasts due to some dishonour. There is no attraction for this caste system for myself. Yet in trying to be objective, I see order to a system that is very structured. Again, what happens when one strays from an ordered structure? One is not only banned but punished. There is a sense of belonging in a caste system. There is a sense of protection by one’s own group. It is a concept of us against the world. Again deviating from expectations may have consequences. I equate the caste system to an outdated feudal system of the middle ages that has managed to survive. Catholicism is very structured within its’ hierarchy with associated obligations. The Pope is at the head and can declare himself infallible in regards to particular spiritual matters. At the low end are the brothers, sisters and deacons, perhaps even priests to some degree. Scriptures can be read by all in the Catholic Church. I have never heard a woman give a sermon except at a Regis mass. I did not make much of it at the time but the female students were overjoyed that this was their first time witnessing a nun speak instead of a priest or deacon. Women cannot be priests. I have never heard of a female deacon which is the closest one may come to being a priest. He may be married. Men clergy must remain celibate and in the Western world they may not marry. Yet if a man has been married in the past and divorced he may become a priest and if he is from the Eastern Church married, he may come to serve married as a priest. There seems to be an aura of unfairness and inequality. Yet there is a respectful hierarchy within the structure of Roman Catholic Church that has survived. One may be born into Catholicism but one is not obligated to stay and one may return. One may argue as a Catholic about Catholicism and one may make mistakes and is forgiven. There is a laity among the community of the Catholic Church. I was an Eucharistic Minister and I witnessed how people responded to me at church. There is an aura of respect, an expectation of behaviour which I try to project. I attended a “Theology on Tap” function one night. This is an ecumenical religious community that socializes at a bar. A school Chaplain gave a talk about her role as a chaplain. She began by talking about her church (Roman Catholic) experience in her youth. She started talking about those people who sit at the front of the church (meaning Eucharistic ministers and readers) acting more important than the rest of the people. It was so offensive but after that I made it a point to sit at the back of the church the majority of the time when I was not serving. This young Catholic chaplain had associated laity of the church as “those people” separated and a class of negativity. This chaplain also placed herself in a hierarchical position of importance. I knew a man who had retired as a Major from the Indian Army. We were at a coffee shop and he remarked about a young woman at the counter laughing with friends. To me this young woman was no different from others that would make me take notice of her. Yet to the man I was having coffee with she was an embarrassment to her caste. He remarked with disdain that the girl spoke with a particular accent indicating that she belonged to a particular caste. I was not sure what he was talking about at the time. He clearly indicated that her dress and deportment was not appropriate for her caste and that she would not get away with the way she was behaving and dress like that in India. Another woman I knew, a Hindu woman, fell in love with a man outside her caste. Her father did not approve so she married someone within her own caste as her father wished and it ended in divorce one year later. Neither loved each other but was obligated to marry within their higher caste. Her father expressed his regret that he had imposed these values onto his daughter. If this woman had married the man she loved, she may had still ended up in divorce but ultimately the choice would have been hers. The pastoral and theological issues that have arisen for me is that for God we are all equal. I believe that each individual is special to God on his or own terms and not any organized religion. Jesus himself was always annoyed with religious leaders. Smith argues that people in the lowest class are not capable of being more. How can they be if not given the opportunity to learn and grow? What can I do to be able to understand and help people from different belief systems? Again at work, a student approached me who was very upset because he loved a woman (both Indian) from another caste. He was wealthy and his father was in a powerful position. I naively offered to talk to his father. Of course this never happened and now I understand how religion crosses borders and there are influences that do not remain consistent for those who separate from their roots. Just like the priests marrying in the East and not in the West, one must understand the influence of the culture. Now |I realize that for that love sick manchild all I needed to do was just listen and be a supportive presence. I am also able to understand the struggles that new Canadians have as they try to leave old customs behind and adopt new ones within a new culture that can sometimes end in death when there is a clash challenging the belief of honour. Smith argues that people in the lowest class are not capable of being more. How can they be if not given the opportunity to learn and grow? What can I do to be able to understand and help people from different belief systems? I reflect and understand how people like the man I was with having a coffee would report what he considers inappropriate to a parent. What can I do to be able to help people from different belief systems? I reflect how some cannot trust Western authority who do not understand the ramifications of dishonour. I can only ponder and hope we can all grow as a people standing side by side in unity with God and with each other. Maybe – someday.